LINKS ACADEMY 1 Hixberry Lane St Albans Hertfordshire AL4 0TZ Tel: 01727 836150 Fax 01727 790530 Email: [email protected]

LINKS ACADEMY SEN POLICY

Author:

Joan Comer

Co-ordinator:

SENCo

Committee:

Academic Improvement Committee

Date Produced:

February 2016

Date approved:

21st March 2016

Review Date:

March 2017

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Introduction The Governors and staff of Links Academy recognise that many students at some point in their school career have special educational needs which may require support. Arrangements are made to identify and provide support for these needs in order to empower our students to achieve success and to develop a level of independence and inner confidence which enables them to come to terms with and overcome potential barriers to learning. Links Academy aims to embrace the needs of all students by providing:    

A broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum relevant to the needs of each individual Maximum possible access to and stimulus within the National Curriculum An environment where no student suffers adverse discrimination on the grounds of emotional, physical or social difficulties Personalised learning provision to support every student.

Links Academy adopts a whole school approach to special education needs (SEND) based on the principle that all teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs. The majority of young people who attend the Links will come with identified needs and already be on the SEN register. All teaching staff deliver their subject in line with National Curriculum. All staff aim to provide effective opportunities for all students by:  Setting suitable learning challenges  Responding to student’s diverse learning needs  Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of students. Our day to day SEN provision is co-ordinated by the SENCo Joan Comer. It follows recommendations in the November 2001 version of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. Our Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy also reflects our statutory duties introduced by the Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001. Teachers and Support Workers at Links receive regular training in the area of special needs. Any additional training identified by teachers and support workers is provided through the school’s funding for in-service training. Definitions Special Educational Needs By special educational need we mean:  A learning difficulty, where a child has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than most children of the same age  A disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind normally provided for children of the same age

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 

Are under compulsory school age and fall within the definitions above or would so do if some educational provision was not made for them. Students for whom English is a second language must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty but may need differentiated planning and provision.

We consider that we are making special educational provision when the provision is additional to or different from that made for the student’s peers. In line with recommendations in the Code of Practice, we use a graduated approach to providing support using normal whole-school monitoring and measurement processes to identify difficulties. Our processes for identification, assessment and provision for children with special educational needs are covered in more detail in Management of SEN, below. We recognise that all our students may need special educational help at some stage in their education. Special provision usually means differentiated delivery, resources, class work, and is usually managed by teachers and support workers. We record details of difficulties, provision, strategies and targets on each student’s profile. These are reviewed on a half termly basis with students and parents/carers regularly. All classes have small group sizes which enables precise and targeted support for learning. Occasionally, if needed, students may be withdrawn to work 1-1 or be assessed. Group sizes vary from 1-1 to up to 1-6. Disability Under the amendments made to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 and the Equality Act 2010, we acknowledge the following:  Our duty not to treat a disabled student less favourably, without justification, for a reason that applies to their disability. (See policy Access to Education Policy for Children & Young People Unable to Attend School for Medical Reasons)  Our duty to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled students are not put at a substantial disadvantage compared with students who are not disabled.  Our duty to plan strategically and make progress in increasing accessibility to schools’ premises and curriculum is provided to disabled students. Some students who have a disability will have a ‘care plan’. The care plan will be drawn up with the collaboration of the student and his or her parents, health services, school nurse, other involved professionals including the SENCo. The plan is agreed and signed by the parents and by the child and reviewed as and when necessary, but at least once a year. The plan will give full details of the nature of the support to be given, who is to give it, resources needed, advice taken, contact numbers and clear procedures to be followed. All relevant staff will be made aware of the contents of the plan. Where children have a disability which impacts mainly and directly on their learning, for example a visual or hearing impairment, advice will be sought from the relevant advisory service, and recorded on the student profiles and SIMS.

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Resources The LEA allocates funding to the school for students with special educational needs. The main resource of the Centre is the staff but we also have a wide range of teaching materials and technological equipment which aids differentiated learning. We also have assessment tools and packages for assessing underlying learning, strengths and weaknesses and behavioural needs. Admission Arrangements All admissions to the Links are through referral to the Headteacher by other Headteachers, via Integration Panel chaired by a County Integration officer or as a result of a permanent exclusion. Upon entry all young people are assessed for learning difficulties, Access Arrangements if applicable, baselined for starting points and assessed for behavioural barriers. The induction process is completed with parental and student involvement. Management of SEN: identification, communication, provision, review, referral Framework Links uses the ‘graduated response’ framework defined within the Code of Practice to manage intervention for students with SEN. This identifies three levels of intervention at which a child may receive provision which is additional to or different from that of his or her peers:  Step 1: whole school provision – needs met through standard good teaching practice where the different and diverse needs and abilities of a class of pupils are handled by the class teachers and their assistants.  Step 2: ‘Additional need’ specialist intervention – we seek advice from other people outside the school, for example a specialist teacher, an educational psychologist, a speech and language therapist or other health professionals.  Step 3: Specialist Assessment – where we apply to the education department of Hertfordshire County Council for an assessment of a child’s special educational needs based on specialist advice, with a view to getting access to special resources or support through an EHC plan. Student profiles are stored on the school’s information management system and is accessible to all teaching and support staff. Staff use it to record successful interventions, to share strategies and to plan differentiated provision within the classroom, solution focus meetings are calendared. Strategies are then shared with young people regularly, and parents. Identification (See Appendix 2) In this, we recognise that provision for students with SEN should match the nature of their needs and that there should be regular recording of action and outcome. Many students with SEN will have had their need for differentiated provision identified at primary/secondary school. The Links has very good communication systems with feeder schools to ensure information sharing and passing on of work. Our Outreach Team work with students in feeder schools and support them back after a time spent at Links Academy Partnership with parents Links emphasises the importance of developing a partnership with parents in meeting the needs of each student and it actively encourages parental support and participation. This is reflected in our school logo. We acknowledge that parents have a right to contribute to the decision making process when determining their child’s special educational needs provision. 4

We understand that parents and carers play a critical role in the education of their children and the development of positive attitudes towards learning, behaviour and relationships. Links involves all parents as much as possible including:  on-going discussions of progress by teachers, support workers and the SENCo/Headteacher  home-School Agreements  joint development of strategies to support development  participation in annual reviews and parent consultation events  celebration events Student participation When appropriate the individual students are enabled and encouraged to participate in all decision-making processes that occur in education including:  setting learning targets and contributing to their personalised learning plan (PLP)  contributing to the assessment of their needs  contributing to the annual review Reviewing Provision The provision is reviewed regularly to establish whether or not the student has made adequate progress. This can be defined in a number of ways. For example, it might be progress which:  closes the attainment gap between the student and their peers  prevents the attainment gap growing wider  is similar to that of peers starting from the same attainment baseline, but less than that of the majority of peers.  matches or betters the student’s previous rate of progress  ensures access to the full curriculum  demonstrates an improvement in self-help, social or personal skills  demonstrates improvements in the student’s behaviour  is likely to lead to accreditation  is likely to lead to participation in further education Progress is reported and reviewed regularly by Governors Liaison with outside agencies The Headteacher and Links staff have developed links with a wide range of outside agencies. The following agencies are consulted as and when needs arise:  Educational Psychology Service  Attendance Improvement Service  Advisory Service (including advisory teachers for the Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired, Ethnic Minorities, Language Support, Specific Learning Difficulties, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorders)  Community Health Services (including School Nurse, School Medical Officer, Occupational Therapy)  Children Schools and Families (CSF) including Social Services  The Youth Connexions Service incorporation the Careers Advisory Service  MAST (Multi Agency Support Team) Should a pupil be in receipt of or be given a EHC plan, their specified targets will be reflected in student profiles, SIMS and lesson plans. For EHC plans the SENCo will ensure that the Statutory Review process takes place in full collaboration with the local education authority. 5

Targets and details of special provision are recorded, reviewed regularly and used as part of the Statutory Review process. Evaluation criteria for special needs provision The criteria for evaluating special needs provision at Links Academy includes feedback from students, parents, staff, the judgement of the Headteacher/Deputy head teacher as well as assessments of student’s progress and inclusion using the student’s profile. The Governors regularly review the provision for children with SEN and consider the effectiveness of the work done by the school.

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Appendix 1 The code of practice 2014: the graduated response model; all students in the school receive an entitlement to a differentiated programme of learning delivered by the class room teacher IF ADEQUATE PROGRESS IS NOT BEING MADE after additional strategies have been implemented THEN: Further assessments and meetings with parents will be generated; external provision will also be requested. In addition to the Links provision this may include advice from an Education Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist. If Progress continues not to be made at this point THEN: THERE IS A REFERRAL FOR A STATUTORY ASSESSMENT IF UNSUCESSFUL THE STUDENT remains as being classed as requiring ‘SEN support’ and other interventions are applied by SENCo, teaching staff and external agencies. IF SUCCESSFUL THEN: THE STUDENT IS ISSUED WITH an Educational health care plan (EHCP)

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APPENDIX 2 The Code of Practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs The current Code of Practice as published by the Department for Education came into effect in January 2002, we are currently now implementing the legislation from the 2014 Code of practise. LEAs, schools and all those who work with children with special educational needs must have regard to the Code. The Code outlines the procedures schools and other agencies should go through in addressing special needs and includes guidelines on the duties of the LEAs and governing bodies of schools. There are three recognised steps of special needs provision within the Code and teachers/tutors are involved at every step under the guidance of the Head of Learning Support. Appendix 1 summaries the process. Nature of special educational needs Students with special education needs all have learning difficulties that make it much harder for them to learn than most children of the same age. The Code of Practice uses the ‘four dimensions’ developed by the Teacher Training Agency to define the main areas of SEN which our students may have. Adequate progress  The SEN Code of Practice states that adequate progress can be defined in a number of ways and Link’s PLP review process covers the areas it identifies. Triggers indicating the need for intervention: The student who, despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities:  Makes little or no progress even when teaching approaches are targeted particularly in a student’s identified area of weakness  Shows signs of difficulty in developing literacy or mathematical skills that result in poor attainment in some curriculum areas  Present persistent emotional and/or behavioural difficulties which are not ameliorated by the behaviour management techniques usually employed in the school.  Has sensory or physical problems and continues to make little or no progress despite the provision of specialist equipment  Has communication and/or interaction difficulties and continues to make little or no progress despite the provision of a differentiated curriculum. Triggers indicating the need for intervention of external agencies: Despite having had an individualised programme and/or concentrated support, the student:  continues to make little or no progress in specific areas over a long period  continues working at National Curriculum levels substantially below their expectations  continues to have difficulty in developing literacy and mathematical skills  has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties which substantially and regularly interfere with the student’s own learning or that of the class group, despite having an individualised behaviour management programme  has sensory or physical needs and requires additional specialist equipment or regular advice or visits by a specialist service  has on going communication and/or interaction difficulties that impeded the development of social relationships and cause substantial barriers to learning. From SEN Code of Practice (2014)

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Appendix 3 Review of needs of students with a Statement of Special Educational Needs Each of the students with a Statement of Special Educational Need, is reviewed formally during the annual review. The SENCo carries out the annual review; in some cases it may also be appropriate for other staff to be involved. Parents/carers, along with the student are invited to be actively involved in the review process including the agreeing of annual targets. Other external agencies (e.g. health services, social services, educational psychologists) involved with the student will be invited to contribute a written report towards the annual review as well as attending the meeting. A representative of the funding LA will also be invited to attend. As part of the annual review it is the school’s duty to address the following questions:  What process has the student made in the past year in meeting the objectives set out in the statement?  How successful has the student been in achieving the targets set?  What are the current levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy?  What are the continuing difficulties?  Are there any significant changes in the student’s circumstances?  Are there any changes in the student’s special educational needs?  Are there any changes in the provision provided?  Should the Statement continue to be maintained or amended?  What are the parent’s views?  What are the student’s views? The Code of Practices states that a Transition Review must initially be carried out in Year 9 and subsequent years; and that the LEA and schools play the same role at both Annual Reviews and Transition Reviews. It is also a requirement that a representative from the Careers Service is also invited to and attends the Transition Review and in some cases a Youth Connexions Personal Adviser will also be involved. As part of the Transition Plan it is the school’s duty to address the following questions:  What are the young person’s curriculum needs during transition?  How can the curriculum help young people play their role in the community, make use of leisure and recreational facilities; assume new roles in the family; develop new educational and vocational skills?  What subject options should be chosen for Key Stage 4?  What, if any Key Stage 4 National Curriculum flexibilities should be a feature of school provision?  Is there a need for special examination arrangements or access arrangements?

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Policy Review - SEN Policy This policy will be reviewed in full by the Governing Body on an annual basis. The policy was last reviewed and agreed by the Governing Body on 21st March 2016 It is due for review on March 2017 up to 12 months from the above date).

Signature ………………………………….

Date ……………………

Headteacher

Signature ………………….……………….

Date ….…………………

Chair of Governors

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